The future of GreatBallContraption.com

Several members of the GBC Community Chat on Discord attended BrickWorld Chicago 2019 earlier this year, and one of the topics of discussion was the future of the "GreatBallContraption.com" website.  It was revealed that the current ownership is looking for a person, or group of people to manage it in 2020 and beyond.

The current owner (Mr. Alano) as well as other GBC heavyweights like Mr. Atkinson have already checked in on Discord and the discussion is now taking place in the Symposium chat room.

If you would like to participate in the discussion you can join the chat room HERE.  Please introduce yourself when you arrive and you will be given access to join the discussion.

New Lego GBC Module - Multipath

Presenting Multipath, my latest Lego Great Ball Contraption module!

This module was built with utility in mind, and its output can be split into two separate paths.

The lift mechanism is a stepper that loads 4-5 balls into the sports ramp half-pipe, where a vertical sweeper raises the balls to the output ramps.  Both output ramps can be set to recirculate if desired.  If only one output ramp is set to recirculate then this module behaves like any other, with one input and one output.

It's powered by a Lego Power Functions M motor, but you can hear it slightly straining in the video.  I may replace this with an L motor in the future depending on its performance at the next convention.

This module took a little while to get working right, the most challenging part was building  the linkage that swings the sweeper in a back-forth type motion.

GBC Observer 👁 Week 28, 2019

Welcome to week 28 of the GBC Observer!  I've been busy building a few new modules which I will be showing later this month.   Here are some Lego GBC videos that I found quite interesting over the last week.

BayLUG member nonsense wars gives us a walkthrough of his "Not Scissor Lift" module.  The lift has a great vertical motion similar to a traditional scissor lift.



Sawyer has created a flipping lifter that has an unusual motion due to the gears being used in a different way.



And here's another look at Pinwheel's contribution to last the massive BW Chicago 2019 layout.


Have a great week everyone!